Beneath a Midnight Moon - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,101

with ashes.

Stunned, Kylene stared at Hardane, at the blackened ashes scattered over his head and shoulders, at the blood dripping from his hand.

He had lied to her. He had promised he would not leave her to avenge his father’s death and now, before half the countryside, he had vowed to avenge Lord Kray.

There was a final prayer, and the funeral was over. The mourners, somber in their silence, filed past the coffin and out of the chapel.

A gentle rain was falling; a cold, bitter wind blew from the north as Hardane and his brothers carried the casket into the graveyard behind the church.

The grave had already been dug. The earth waited to receive its own.

Kylene stood beside Sharilyn, her mind and heart numb as Hardane’s words echoed and re-echoed in her ears: By my blood here spilt, I vow to avenge my father’s death.

The church bells began to ring as the coffin was lowered into the ground.

It was then that Sharilyn’s outward composure cracked. With a sob, she fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands.

The sound of her tears rose above the wail of the wind.

It was a sound that Kylene knew would haunt her dreams for days to come.

She watched as Hardane drew his mother to her feet and gathered her into his arms.

By my blood here spilt . . . Kylene shivered as an image burst upon her mind, an image of another coffin, Hardane’s coffin, being lowered into the ground.

Choking back a rush of nausea, she left the graveyard and returned to the church. Inside, she dropped to her knees in front of the altar and began to pray.

It was Dubrey who found her there. Dubrey who took her home.

Kylene sat in the bedchamber she shared with Hardane. Sitting in the window seat, she stared into the darkness, the ache in her heart too deep for tears.

He had lied to her, had let her believe that he meant to forgo his quest for vengeance. She had trusted him, and he had betrayed that trust. He was going after the Interrogator, to kill or be killed, and she would never forgive him. Never.

For the first time since their marriage, she felt no joy at the sound of his footsteps approaching their room, nor did she run to the door to greet him.

She heard him enter their chamber and close the door, heard him cross the floor toward her, felt his hand caress her shoulder.

Without turning around, she pushed his hand away.

“What’s wrong, Kylene?”

“Wrong?” She drew her hurt around her like a cloak. “Why should anything be wrong simply because you lied to me?”

“I never lied to you.”

“You did!” She whirled around to face him. “You promised me you wouldn’t go!”

“I never promised any such thing.”

“You did,” she insisted. She tried to remember that night, tried to recall exactly what he’d told her, but she was too hurt to think clearly, too steeped in despair to bandy words with him now.

“It’s late,” Hardane said quietly. “Come, let’s go to bed. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

“No.” Rising, she folded her arms over her breasts. “I wish to sleep alone.”

“Kylene . . .”

“Get out.”

“Listen to me.”

“No, I listened to you before, and you lied to me. You let me believe that I meant more to you than some useless need for vengeance.”

“How could you have believed I would let my father’s death go unavenged? How could I live with myself if I didn’t try to bring Renick to justice?”

“Justice! What do I care for justice? Will justice feed my children if you are killed? Will justice warm my bed?”

“Kylene, please try to understand.”

He reached out to take her in his arms, but she darted past him, anger and hurt warring in her heart. “Leave me alone!”

“Damn, lady, be careful you don’t say something you’ll regret.”

“The only thing I regret is trusting you.”

He took a step toward her, one hand outstretched, but she backed away from him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “Don’t touch me!”

Hardane stared at her for a long moment, his gray eyes turbulent, and then, without another word, he left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

In the fortnight following the funeral, Kylene rarely saw Hardane except at meals. It seemed there were always people crowding into the Great Hall. Some were merely anxious to see their new ruler, but most of them came with problems: a land dispute, stolen cows or pigs or sheep, a need for help of one kind